Is ‘Afif possibly best fielder in world’?  

In social media yesterday, Bangladesh batting coach Jamie Siddons complimented the key performers of the Tigers in the second one-dayer against Afghanistan, played on Friday in Chattogram.

Siddons, on Facebook, had posted a video of him eagerly heading towards the Zahur Ahmed Cricket Stadium to train his charges ahead of the third ODI. In the caption of video, he mentioned Liton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim for their 'masterclass with the bat' and bowlers Shakib Al Hasan and Taskin Ahmed for being 'star with the ball' before praising Afif Dhrubo for his fielding effort, that had enabled the Tigers in drawing first blood against the Afghans in their attempt to defend a 307-run target.  

"Afif fastest and possibly best fielder in the world! Great runout!!" wrote Siddons pointing at the event, during which Afghan opener Riaz Hasan probably did not foresee his dismissal when he had set out to sneak a single after having played Shoriful Islam's good-length delivery with soft hands towards mid wicket in the beginning of second over of innings.

Then Afif, as if, came out of nowhere and took the proper decision to threaten the shot maker, Riaz in this case, sprinting towards the non-striker's end.

At that point, very few, watching in real time, could have predicted a run-out since by the time Afif picked the ball up and released, Riaz was well past the halfway mark while running at full speed.

In the end, the batter fell inches short as Afif threw a direct one. His pick-up and release was so fast and seamless that it almost felt like a seamer's quick-arm bowling action. Even more impressive was the youngster had seemingly predicted what shot Riaz was going to play in the moment Shoriful landed the white ball on the pitch. It was the awareness which enabled Afif in getting rid of his blocks so swiftly, and more importantly, in the right direction.

Afif's superb fielding act was reminiscent of watching a certain legendary South African in the field who mesmerised everyone, who had the privilege of watching fifty-overs cricket in the mid-late 90s, with his virtuosic fielding, mainly from point and backward point area.

Those who watched a prime Jonty Rhodes in action would also recall that he had the tendency to step towards the batter as the bowler approached the umpire. Rhodes could anticipate what sort of shot the batter would end up playing and adjust directions in split second. Thus, it often led to jaw-dropping catches and run-outs and more often, he ended up saving multiple sure-shot boundaries to eventually decide the outcome of a match in South Africa's favour on many occasions. 

Rhodes being an intelligent middle order batter as well had benefitted his fielder self, but understandably, his fielding prowess went on to overshadow his batting self. Stellar athleticism aside, the genius of Rhodes lied in the details of game-reading and awareness, for it made him appear a lot quicker than he actually was; and boy, was he quick! Even against the most athletic of runners in the middle, Rhodes was invariably one step ahead. His fielding area became a fortress in his presence; batters had to think twice before playing a square cut shot, even if the shot was their most favourite one. 

At the end of day, however, Siddons' praise of Afif's fine skills of fielding might as well be taken with a hint of scepticism, given the Australian's current affiliation with the Tigers. Nevertheless, the 22-year-old indeed displayed a glimpse of what the legendary South African used to pull off day in, day out, back in the day. Now, will it be far from the truth to hypothesise that if Afif, or whoever, ends up becoming half as good as Rhodes in his prime, becomes the best fielder in the world?